


Soft Eyes and Gentle Hands

by ScribblesInTheMargins



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: AU-veterinarian, Christophe strips from his clothes, Drinking, M/M, Vet-tuuri, Veterinarian Victor Nikiforov, Veterinarian Yuuri Katsuki, VictUuri, no beta we die like men, rated e for eventually this story will be, so does yuuri, tag will update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-14 20:12:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17515211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScribblesInTheMargins/pseuds/ScribblesInTheMargins
Summary: Yuri!!! On Ice!  Except they are vets!Victor has lost his passion and lost his way.  Will a chance encounter change his life?  After seeing the video of the young and idealistic Katsuki Yuuri, Victor gambles his happiness on one plane ticket.  Will the man even remember him though, and is he what Victor needs to find his passion?





	Soft Eyes and Gentle Hands

**Author's Note:**

> What if instead of skaters, Victor and Yuuri -- and pretty much everyone else were vets? Here it is :)

 

Yuuri had made mistakes in his life, many mistakes. His latest mistake was agreeing to go to this stupid conference with Phichit.  How he and Phichit had ended up here was a rather interesting story. Actually, no it wasn't. Phichit was sleeping with one of their old vet school professors (he called it sleeping with, Yuuri was convinced it was much more than that) and had been invited to this conference because 'Ciao Caio' had wanted his little Phichit spread out on that king bed in the suite at the hotel.  Unfortunately, the grading computers at the University had died in a most impressive manner that had destroyed all the grades and all the teaching staff were required to fix it before the end of the term. The end of the term had been yesterday. 'Ciao Ciao' was still working on his grades. Thus, Yuuri was now here for a weekend conference about high-end reconstructive surgery from some of the best veterinary orthopedic surgeons in the world -- including Mr. Victor Nikiforov.

 

Of course, a lot of people had strong feelings about Mr. Nikiforov's work.  Most people did not have copies of every last paper the man had ever written.  Maybe some did. Most did not have every picture of the man that made it to the media -- including Russian language only Veterinarian magazines.  Maybe Yuuri had a problem. That did not change the fact that they were here, in the hotel, getting ready to go and hear the man actually speak.

 

"Phichit!!  Hurry up. If we want to get a good seat we need to hurry up!"

 

"I'm coming -- are you really wearing that?"  He stood there, looking at Yuuri, one eyebrow raised.

 

"This is my best suit."

 

"It looks hideous.  Why didn't I made sure you packed better?"

 

"We don't have time for this, I want to see him.  You already made me come with you."

 

"Made you?  I said Victor Nikiforov and you were practically drooling."

 

"Phichit!  Shush! Come on!"

 

After giving his best friend a few minutes to 'fix his hair' and 'get rid of that god awful tie', they were on their way to the largest of the conference rooms in the hotel.  It seated 400, so Yuuri's desire to be early was at least rational -- maybe one of the only rational things about this entire trip to see his idol.

 

They were only six rows back, the center of the room even and Yuuri was practically vibrating with excitement as if this were some sort of concert instead of a symposium on the use of atypical casting methods for longitudinal breaks of the extremities in small breed dogs.

 

Yuuri didn't take his eyes from the stage.  This was what he had been waiting for. This is what made the plane trip worth it, and all the teasing from Phichit.  This was what he wanted more than anything, to actually see Victor Nikiforov in person.

 

Eyes wide, the lights eventually dimmed and there he was.  The Russian Veterinarian walked out followed closely by his poodle.  

 

If Yuuri had been thinking, he wouldn't have leaned over to whisper, "He brought Makkachin!  Can you believe it! Onto the stage, I mean I knew he traveled with her all the time, but there she is, right there!"

 

"Yuuri! Settle!"  Phichit laughed though as he watched his friend's focus move back to the speaker.  

 

Yuuri fell silent the moment Victor started to speak.  He could only watch as the man's soft voice carried from the speakers.  The hands-free microphone allowing him to walk around the stage, gesturing at the power point of images of the techniques in use.

 

His laser focus was on Victor, and while he was taking in all the information from the presentation, it was the little details that he was drawn to.  The way Victor gestured. The grace the man exuded as he walked across the stage. When he turned to face the screens, Yuuri swore he felt himself go a little faint.  There was no reason for a man to be that brilliant and that sexy. If it were at all possible, Yuuri would have been trying to get pictures of that man's ass.

 

Yuuri had known he was gay for a very long time, but he had never been in pure awe of a person until Victor Nikiforov.  It had been such a harmless little thing. He and Phichit had been in their first year of vet school and one of the videos they had to watch was from the University of Saint Petersburg, and that was when Yuuri had first seen the man.  He was incredible. His smile, his eyes, his -- just his everything. He had been so surprised by it that he had had to borrow the DVD to rewatch it -- that had turned out to be a mistake.

 

Phichit was his roommate.  Of course, they were off campus, a little two bedroom apartment that working in the labs paid for, and they had always had an open door policy.  Someday Yuuri would be over the embarrassment of having had Phichit walk in on him masturbating to a vet school video -- that day had not come yet.

 

Watching Victor in person though, it was a surreal experience.  He was breathing the same air, seeing the same light, hearing the same sounds as the man he idolized.  Oh, it wasn't just physical. In the beginning, it had been, of course, Victor had the looks of a model if models were Slavic gods come to earth.  Victor was a perfect sculpture as if marble touched by a master had come to life. Victor -- oh Yuuri could wax poetic about Victor all day, and in fact, he had.

 

It wasn't all about the man's body.  No, Victor was also brilliant. So many advancements in surgery had been made by the man.  Some people spread rumors that he was trained to be a medical surgeon at one of the top schools in Russia.  Everything that Yuuri had ever personally seen though, that all agreed that he had graduated top of his class from the University of Saint Petersburg.

 

As if looks and brilliance were not enough, the man's hands.  Oh, Yuuri could talk about those skilled hands all day. Those long fingers, graceful and strong and with a surety never found in mere mortals like he was. No, Victor's hands could put together things that were broken with a precision that more than likely made several deities jealous of the man's healing powers.  Victor was everything, and now he was so close.

 

By the time it was over, Yuuri was shaking, his head spinning.  It was so much information to take in, plus everything about Victor that he had been trying to memorize as the man moved and talked.  Exactly how he said each of those words, how he stood, how he gestured -- this was the best day in Yuuri's life.

 

As they left the room, Phichit's arm was on his as the other man made sure that Yuuri was heading back to the elevators to their room.  The elevator was packed, and it seemed to stop at every floor as they made their way up to the 22nd floor. All the suites were in this area, so perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise that when they stepped off the elevator -- he was there.

 

Yuuri stopped in his tracks, eyes wide as Phichit's head spun to see the silver-haired man.

 

Phichit just smiled as he spoke to Victor - and Yuuri knew he couldn't speak like that, with ease as if Victor were just another person, someone they could just strike up a conversation with.  "Oh wow, we're on the same floor."

 

"Oh, hello.  I did not see you there."  Then Victor's eyes noticed the badges around their necks, "Oh were you at my little talk?"

 

Yuuri was too stunned to actually say anything.  Luckily, Phichit was not speechless. "Oh yes. Yuuri here has followed your work for years.  I just had the tickets."

 

"You are both Veterinarians?"

 

"Yes, Phichit -- Phichit works with me…"  Yuuri swore his heart was going to leap from his chest that he had actually spoken to Victor Nikiforov.

 

"Oh?"  One silver eyebrow went up as Victor looked to Yuuri.

 

As Yuuri's brain stopped working from Victor looking at him, Phichit spoke up.  "Yes.  Yuuri started his own practice in Detroit, and when I graduated a year later, I joined him.  Since my boyfriend had something come up at the last minute, Yuuri agreed to keep me company on this little trip.  It didn't make sense to let the hotel reservations and the plane tickets go to waste."

 

"I see?"  Victor seemed to perk up.  "So Yuuri…" He paused as he looked at the badge around Yuuri's neck, "Katsuki ... he is not your boyfriend.  Although I guess the cancelation at the last minute does explain what I believe is a king suite?"

 

Yuuri was positive that if there was a god, the carpet in this hallway would just open up and swallow him whole.

 

"Oh no, Yuuri and I have been roommates since freshman year.  International student dorm and all that." Somehow Phichit managed to not tell Victor all about his actual boyfriend.

 

"Oh, how wonderful!  To have made a friend in a new country like that.  I know!"

 

Whatever VIctor was about to say was cut off as the elevator opened and a staffer walked Makkachin over to Victor, "Oh there you are, my precious.  Did you have a good little walk? You should meet my new friends. This is Phichit and this is Yuuri. I know right, another Yuuri, isn't that exciting!"  He smiled up at them from where he was now kneeling next to the excited poodle. "This is Makkachin, she has been with me for years now."

 

Through some small stroke of luck, Yuuri managed to not explain to Victor how he already knew that.

 

"Oh such a sweet girl, isn't she?"  Phichit smiled but then asked, "What were you saying?"

 

"We have a reservation at the bar on the top floor, you should join us!  Ten tonight. I'll make sure the staff knows to expect you." With that, Victor smiled and took Makkachin's leash, he led the dog down the hall to one of the other suites.

 

All Yuuri could do when they got back to their own was to collapse on the bed, "I'm going to die!"

 

"No, no you are not.  You are going to have drinks with your idol and this is going to be amazing!"  Even as he near danced around the room, Phichit was calling on the phone, "Hey baby!  You will never believe what happened."

 

Yuuri let the outside world fade as he concentrated on his breathing.  If he listened to the retelling of what had just happened, he was liable to go into a full panic attack, and no one needed that to happen.  Breathe in, hold it, breathe out, hold it. All he was able to concentrate on was his breathing. He could get through this. He could get through this.  Then he sat up with a start, "I don't have anything to wear!!!"

 

While Phichit looked through their suitcases, throwing clothes all over the room to see what they could pull together between what they both had packed, Yuuri just laid on his back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling in pure panic.

 

Somehow that night, they were both dressed and looking decent.  It was all Phichiit's doing. Yuuri right now was a barely functioning human being.  Phichit had dressed him in his best pair of jeans, a white button-up, and the suit coat.  With enough gel to keep Yuuri's hair back and out of his eyes, the end result was actually very good.  When they got to the lounge on the top level, their names were compared against the guest list and they were let in.  It was amazing, all neon colored and with an open bar as well as all kinds of appetizers.

 

As Yuuri looked around, he didn't see Victor yet, so he let Phichit go and do what Phichit did -- and he remembered to turn his notifications off on his phone because his friend had already taken three selfies with ice sculptures.  There was no stopping that man and his camera.

 

Maybe a glass of champaign wouldn't hurt.  As Yuuri stuck to the sides of the room, one glass became two and became three.  Yuuri was feeling a little tipsy, well more than a little, by the time he saw Victor walk in with a blond haired man.  The only thing keeping the blond from clearly being the sexiest man in the room was that Victor was there. Yuuri knew who that was.  That was the very well known Swiss Veterinarian Christophe Giacommeti. The man had his own television show even. Those curls, those eyes, and Yuuri knew almost every woman (and more than a few men) that had been in his classes went weak-kneed for him.

 

Chris's arm was wrapped around Victor and they made their way to the bar on the far side, flirting and laughing.  Chris's presentation had been yesterday. In fact, all the people that had been official speakers seemed to be here as well as the people who had put on the event.  This was crazy that Yuuri had been invited, or Phichit had been invited -- one of the two. He wasn't sure but he knew that sense of panic as he watched Victor and Christophe drink across the room.  He wanted to go say hi to Victor, but he couldn't. Instead, he just stayed at the champagne table, drinking the sparkling liquid much too quickly. He was much too shy to go over there and say 'hi'.

 

* * *

 

Victor hadn't been expecting any of this.  He had only agreed to come to this event because Christophe assured him that it would be good for everyone.  It would give Veterinarians an opportunity to hear about the things he had been doing in-person -- Victor hadn't realized that it would be so impersonal.  He hadn't even spoken to another Veterinarian until he had gotten off the elevator. At first, he had been certain the two men were involved -- there was a closeness there, but then to have been told it was just a friendship...

 

Maybe the invite was impulsive, but he was allowed to be impulsive on occasion.  When Christophe had finally been ready to go to the party, Victor had been excited, for the first time in so very long, Victor was excited.

 

When they first got to the party,  he spotted Yuuri over by the champagne with his friend off chatting with people and taking pictures -- Chris said it would not be good to go over there right away.  He stayed on the far side of the room, drinking champagne with Christophe, but not too much.

 

"Victor, let him come to you.  Look at how he looks at you, wait for him.  You don't want to seem desperate do you?"

 

"No … not desperate."  No, this was not desperation, this was something else.  Those beautiful brown eyes. Victor didn't think he had ever seen such soft and compassionate eyes before in his life.  He wanted to know that man, know how a human could have eyes so soft.

 

"You are practically drooling, so is that your type?"  The tease was obvious, even as Christopher leaned back on his chair to rest his head on Victor's shoulder.

 

"Chris …"  Victor sighed though, leaning in to take a selfie with his best friend.  It was nice to be on a vacation like this.

 

As the dancing started up, Victor was about to go and talk to Yuuri.  This had been more than long enough, and if he had any chance of there being some sort of interest there, he wasn't going to put off speaking with the man much longer.

 

Before Victor could go to Yuuri, he saw the man start to dance with people, and all thoughts of what he was going to say were gone from his head.  This -- he hadn't expected this. That the man could dance and … like that, and oh, yes, Victor knew the signs, Yuuri was drunk.

 

As Victor stood there, open-mouthed as he watched Yuuri dance -- not by himself.  There was an open bar, more than a few people were drunk enough that there was now a sexy dance party -- and why did he not expect Chris to be in the middle of that.  Of course, Christophe was now right in the middle of that … where were Chris's clothes? As Victor folded up the garments shed by his best friend, he folded them and placed them on a chair all the while not taking his eyes off of what debauchery was going on in the center of the room.  

 

There were cell phones out, there as no way people were not filming and taking pictures.   With any luck, this would fall under some sort of you do not share the pictures type of social convention.

 

Victor knew better than to get involved in this.  If pictures of him dancing drunk made their way to his mentor, he'd be dead.  No, worse than dead. He'd have Yakov yelling at him until the day the man died -- and then Yakov would come back as a ghost to haunt him even longer.

 

Even as he stood there, he didn't know what to say or do, as suddenly Christophe was walking over with Yuuri.  Victor would have words with Christophe later, he knew the man wasn't drunk, this was Christophe causing trouble.  He couldn't do anything though before he had Yuuri leaning on him, looking up and smiling.

 

"Victor!  You should come and be my mentor.  You should see my place in Detroit.  It's amazing, you need to see it, come and see it, Victor?" Yuuri was clutching at his chest, pressing his nearly naked body to him.

 

Those eyes, oh how he loved those beautiful chocolate pools of pure soft compassion.  Sometimes you just knew, and this was one of those times. Victor knew this was a good man.  This was a kind man. He was so warm and he fit so well against his body -- and he was being invited to visit him.

 

Before Victor could protest, Yuuri had his phone from Victor's back pocket and was looking up the web page for his clinic, bookmarking it on VIctor's phone.  "You have to be my mentor, VIctor. I've watched all your videos. Over and over and over …"

 

He was still speechless as Phichit ran over to Yuuri and started to make excuses, hauling his friend away.  The younger man clutching the shed clothes in his arms as he got Yuuri out of there.

 

* * *

 

Fuck!  Phichit was bright red and near bouncing in the elevator as they made their way down to the floor with their suite.  He had thought Yuuri was fine. He had just snuck out to the balcony to call his boyfriend and when he came back in Yuuri had been half naked and writhing against Victor.  Maybe Yuuri wouldn't remember. He hoped Yuuri wouldn't remember. There was no reason that Yuuri needed to remember what he had done, because he knew if his friend knew what had happened, Yuuri would basically die of embarrassment.

 

All he did was get him into bed.  He'd deal with the hangover in the morning.  They had an early flight back to Detroit, so there was no time to worry too much tonight.  It would be OK. Worst case, Yuuri wouldn't talk to him for days, but really, it wasn't as if Phichit had made him drink as much as he had.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Victor was back on his plane to Russia.  He couldn't get his mind off of that man. Yuuri Katsuki. The funk was still there and the greyness of Saint Peterson did not help at all.  Work was a blur, he just couldn't feel the excitement anymore. He was so removed from what had made him love this profession in the first place.  Now it was papers and lectures and … if not for Makka, there would be days between even touching an animal.

 

As he sat with Makkachin on his couch, softly petting his dog, he looked at the site that had been bookmarked.  All of the information for the clinic was there. He had Yuuri's biography, and while it seemed like a nice enough veterinary clinic, the fact it operated on a sliding scale for people who had difficulties paying.  He scrolled through all the website that night, then the facebook and finally the twitter. That was when he found it. There was a video, and Victor was enthralled.

 

The patient was a young Pekingese, just a little white thing, maybe seven pounds.  Little dogs had little bones and poor blood flow, it made such things so much harder.  As Victor watched, he heard Yuuri's voice narrate the whole surgery, explaining what he was doing, what had happened and how this was essentially the only way to even try to save the dogs leg.  

 

Victor knew the procedure, he knew it so well.  Then at the end as the final closing stitches were placed, the line he knew was true was said, "This entire procedure is a modified version of the surgery that Victor Nikiforov."  

 

He sat up, blinking.  Maybe it was crazy. No, it was definitely crazy.  That didn't stop him from buying a ticket to Detroit.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are love :)
> 
> My twitter and tumblr are both always open for questions and comments
> 
> my twitter ([scribblesITM](https://twitter.com/ScribblesITM)) or my Tumblr ([scribbles in the margins](http://scribblesinthemargins.tumblr.com))


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